nnels enter the
lake. Opposite the spot where the Bahr-mit Yezir enters is an opening
into the Mediterranean. Canal and opening indicate the course of the
ancient Sebennytic branch of the Nile. Burlus is noted for its
water-melons, which are yellow within and come into season after those
grown on the banks of the Nile.

Menzala greatly exceeds the other Delta lakes in size, covering over
780 sq. m. It extends from very near the Damietta branch of the Nile
to Port Said. It receives the waters of the canalized channels which
were once the Tanitic, Mendesian and Pelusiac branches. The northern
shore is separated from the sea by an extremely narrow strip of land,
across which, when the Mediterranean is stormy and the lake full, the
waters meet. Its average length is about 40 m., and its average
breadth about 15. The depth is greater than that of the other lakes,
and the water is salt, though mixed with fresh. It contains a large
number of islands, and the whole lake abounds in reeds of various
kinds. Of the islands Tennis (anciently Tennesus) contains ruins of
the Roman period. The lake supports a considerable population of
fishermen, who dwell in villages on the shore and islands and live
upon the fish of the lake. The reeds are cover for waterfowl of
various kinds, which the traveller sees in great numbers, and wild
boars are found in the marshes to the south. The Suez Canal runs in a
straight line for 20 m. along the eastern edge of the lake. That part
of the lake east of where the canal was excavated is now marshy plain,
and the Tanitic and Pelusiac mouths of the Nile are dry. East of
Menzala is the site of Serbonis, another dried-up lake, which had the
general characteristics of the Delta lagoons. In the Isthmus of Suez
are Lake Timsa and the Great and Little Bitter Lakes, occupying part
of the ancient bed of the Red Sea. All three were dry or marshy
depressions previously to the cutting of the Suez Canal, at which time
the waters of the Mediterranean and Red Sea were let into them (see
SUEZ CANAL).

A chain of natron lakes (seven in number) lies in a valley in the
western desert, 70 to 90 m. W.N.W. of Cairo. In the Fayum province
farther south is the Birket-el-Kerun, a lake, lying below the level of
the Nile, some 30 m. long and 5 wide at its broadest part. Kerun is
all that is left of the Lake of Moeris, an ancient artificial sheet of
water w